by R. J. Ross
“One word, man, glitter,” the other guy says.
“That’s Dragon,” Jimmi whispers, cupping her hands around Whitney’s ear to do so. Whitney blinks in surprise.
“Also, what about the poor kid who gets this room after she’s moved out?” Ace goes on. Despite his words, the sound of a paint brush moving over the wall is heard. “If you’re willing to do all this for her, don’t you think it would be easier just to… I don’t know… ask her out?”
“So how IS Morgan, Ace?” Rocco asks.
“Low blow.”
“Now you know what I’m saying,” Rocco says smugly. “Maybe you should offer to paint her wall for her sometime.”
“Morgan? She’d probably turn me down. She doesn’t seem the type to like that sort of thing.”
“I’ve heard she’s got a bed covered in stuffed toys,” Rocco says.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“You just heard, though. You didn’t see it, yourself.”
“I might have got a glimpse of it, once.”
“What were you doing, looking in Morgan’s room?”
“Looking for Carla.”
“Oh,” Ace says. “Well, I hope whoever gets the room is a fan of hers, at least.”
“Okay, let me take a picture. I haven’t gotten a new wallpaper since her posters came out,” Rocco says.
“Are you still bullying Cisco?” Ace asks as they hear a phone click.
“I haven’t bullied him!”
“You ignore the kid, constantly. For a guy that knows everyone’s birthday and middle name five minutes after meeting them, that’s bullying.”
“You ignore people all the time.”
“That’s different. I’m Dragon.”
“Well, this is different, too,” Rocco says.
“How is it different?”
“That little corn cob has been sneaking pics of Carla ever since I got here,” Rocco says, irritably. “You’d think she’d notice, but the one time she did, she actually posed for it.”
The sound of Ace laughing seems to echo in the hall, and the girls cover their ears, grinning widely.
“You actually call him ‘corn cob’?” Ace asks. “That’s terrible, man. Who knows how long it’ll stick?! Besides, you take pictures of her all the time, too.”
“Yeah, but that’s different!”
“I thought you were just going to be friends,” Ace teases. “That you both have too much to do.”
“Yeah, well… shut up.”
“Your argument astounds me,” Ace says. “So, any cute girls down here?”
“Sure, but they’re either in love with Vinny or too young for you,” Rocco says.
“Jimmi’s still stuck on Vinny? Does she know she’s competing with his kitchen?”
“I don’t know, why don’t we ask her?” Rocco asks, sticking his head out the door. Jimmi and Whitney stare at him, in shock. “Wanna come in?”
“I want to meet Dragon!” Whitney says, jumping to her feet and heading in. She stops at the sight of the tall, pale Goth teen that has glitter paint on his cheek.
“Hi,” Ace says with a charming grin.
“She’s twelve,” Rocco says, “Seriously, man, how can you flirt with everyone EXCEPT the girl you’re crushing on?”
“All I said was hi!” Ace says, before turning back to the life sized painting of Carla in a mask on the wall.
“Oh my gosh, it’s adorable!” Jimmi says, moving closer. “But are you sure she’ll want that?”
“I offered to put it in Rocco’s room, but he punched me,” Ace says. Jimmi laughs.
“Wait, she’s here,” Rocco says. “I’ll go stall—“ before he can finish, Carla’s already at the door, singing a new pony song at the top of her lungs. She stops, mid-note, as she sees so many people in her room.
“What are you doing?” she asks. Jimmi and Ace move aside, showing her the painting. “EEE! Ace! Thank you!” she squeals, crossing the room and throwing herself into, not Rocco’s, but Ace’s arms.
“You’re welcome,” Ace says, shamelessly accepting the hug. “Like it?”
“I LOVE IT!” she says. “Oh, I need to take a picture and show everyone! Oh, oh, can you do this for my siblings back home sometime, too? They would love it, too!”
“It was…” Rocco says, looking irritable as Carla hugs Ace again. Jimmi reaches over and pats him on the arm, consolingly as his shoulders drop. “I really should learn how to draw,” he mutters under his breath.
“If this vacation gets any more awesome, I might not want to go home!” Carla says, not even noticing how the visual impact her words have on Rocco.
Rocco turns and hits his head against the wall.
~About the Author~
R.J. Ross has been writing since junior high, when she discovered that it could help her keep an A in English Class. She lives in Missouri, where she spends all of her time writing. If you would like to see more of her work, you can find several short stories at amazon.com/author/rjross!
Like her on Facebook for bonus material such as character profiles, unpublished information, and status updates at https://www.facebook.com/capehigh! Or check out her blog for free Cape High short stories at https://capehigh.wordpress.com or follow her on twitter @rjrosscapehigh
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~About the Cover Designer~
Artist, designer, programmer - you would think that by growing up near the Gulf Coast Leslie Zielinski would spend more time on the sandy beaches. No, she spends her time in front of a computer screen creating digital art and making it come to life.